Kellum

Up until the night of Feb. 25, 1969, You were just another guy on the hill, as far as I was concerned. By sunrise that would all change. I can honestly say that not one day has gone by that I have not thought about what you taught me, Kellum.

I know you were scared at first, just as all of us were. When I spotted you laying there, I knew I had to comfort you. To my astonishment, it was not I who brought peace to you, but it was you who brought peace to me. I don’t know what it was, but I felt it, Kellum. I knew you were seeing the other side. I knew your fear was gone and you were not the least bit sad. I also knew that this was true of every man who died that night… and it would be true for all of us and every human being on Earth.

You made a positive difference in my life, Norman W. Kellum. Your memory gave me refuge in the storms and put light in the darkness. I am glad that I have found you and can finally say, “THANK YOU”.

From: Karen Ward (Sister) in response to Skip Poindexter notifying her of Normans Memorial Page on LZ Russell.

Dear "Skip,"
My name is Karen Kellum-Ward and Norman was my brother. This is the first time I've been at a loss for words. I've read your page a hundred times, it seems. You are very articulate.

I can't tell you how much I've missed Norm. He was the sweetest brother any sister could have had, Skip. He wrote to me every day and his last letter was dated Feb. 25, 1969.

Over and over in my mind, for years, the overrun played through my head like a motion picture in slow motion. Reading your account of the overrun, you described it exactly as I had imagined. My greatest fear was that Norman had died alone, that his family wasn't there with him. It is comforting for me to know, that someone like you was there with him in his final moments. I wanted you to know that Norman had a profound affect on my life. I was touched by you saying that Norman had a positive affect on your life.

My son is a Police Officer and he bears a striking resemblance to Norman. He wears a vest every day and I know how uncomfortable they can be. I'm sure his vest is much easier to wear than what was available back then. It sure gets hot in Texas. Seeing my son, is a daily reminder of Norman.

I would love to hear from you if you don't mind sharing. I still have a few unanswered questions. Please don't feel obligated to respond. I don't want to push anyone beyond their comfort zone. I wanted to thank you for your kind words and let you know that you have my undying gratitude.

From: Lidia Kellum, (Norman's Sister) in response to a letter I sent to her.

Good morning Skip! I explored both LZ Russell sites after talking to Eric Wade, who recently left the Air Force after 12 yrs. & returned to the U.S. & located in Austin.

We were trying to make something good out of sorrow. Norman's mom, Eric's Mamaw, had died & was being buried in Corpus Christi, next to Norman & it brought back a lot of memories. I wouldn't let the kids (Eric & his sister, HollyBeth) go back to Austin without going to Padre Island. Eric hadn't been since his grandpa's funeral (maybe '91), so we made an afternoon of it & reminisced about old times.

Padre Island is where Norman would "live", catching sharks off Bob Hall pier & where I always retreated to to regain perspectives. You haven't lived until you've been on Bob Hall pier, feeling the waves about you at 5AM & waited for the sun to come up. While we enjoyed the wind & waves, Eric & I talked about when he was little & he told me about the LZ Russell site. We had a long visit going back to Austin & I can't wait to see Noah Wade's (Eric's 2yr. old son) face when he sees that endless ocean out there at Padre Island! I wish we had never moved to Houston. We missed CC terribly & being away from family was tough.

Finally my Dad moved up here to be close to grandkids & so did Mamaw Kellum, after the death of Papaw Kellum. Both my kids live in Austin, which has a wonderful atmosphere & don't enjoy coming to Houston area, but CC rivals Austin in it's beauty. I don't know what state you live in, but Texas has so much to see & Texas has been good to me. I moved here from Florida & it wasn't so kind to me growing up; Wisconsin was a great place though!

Well, I had better go, I'm doing the job search for a teaching position working w/younger kids (taught 6th gr. resource last yr.) & I'm looking to teach 3rd graders this year, God willing, but I have to hit the pavement! Let's make the day count, Lidia

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Bunyan [mailto:paulbunyan@sacoriver.net]
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 12:47 PM
To: lzra@lzrussell.org
Subject: Norman Kellum's Memorial

I have no idea on what to say other than i am very Happy to find something done in Norman's Honor. You see Norman and i was the bestest of buddies as we served together with the 13th Marines in Camp Pendleton and shipped over to the Nam together but was separated at the air field in Quang Tri. Norman stayed with the artillery unit and i went to a bush unit. How i found out about Norman's death was i was at 3rd med. one day taking care of some of my own stuff and i ran into a sgt. i remembered from Pendleton. He told me about Norman and that Norman was just brought into the morgue right by where we was taking. That's the first time i seen Norman since the Air Field. Damn that was a hard one to deal with. And its been real hard since for me. I was never brave enough to talk to Normans family which i regret very much now for being so dumb in not talking with them. I honestly think of Norman every day and really hate myself sometimes over conversations that Norman and i always had teasing each other back in the states. I visited Norman's Grave site last summer in Corpus Christie and put an American Flag along with a POW/MIA flag by his marker. I noticed then that his mom and dad was there also. A friend of mine in San Antonio found his grave site for me and he also tried to contact family members but couldn't make any contacts. I was sad again as i just would like to tell them how much Norman means to me and that what a great guy he really was. Also i have a couple three pictures of Norman from Pendleton and one when we was on ship together. Oh did we ever hate being on ship lol.

When i got onto Normans page i didn't expect to see a flick of Norman. WoW that hit home. I have a picture of myself looking just like that. I have rubbings of Norman's name on the Wall as a lady friend got it for me. I myself haven't had the guts to go to the Wall myself but i hope to. I know Norman is waiting for that day and that scares the crap out of me. Why i guess its because i know i am going to break when i touch Norman's name and that is scary for me i guess.

Well better go for now as i am going to try and send an e-mail to his sister. Hope it works. I am adding a painting i did for Norman along time ago.. Thanks Skip for what you do and Thank you ever so much for Honoring Norman. Wish i had to power to do as well.... Dave Haskell aka Limey